Beyond
by Normryl
Summary: A series of drabbles and short stories based on suggestions from other people. Chapter name lets you know who the focus of the story is. Suggestions welcome.
1. Rick & Daryl

_'Daryl & Rick actually talking about Merle and Lori and their losses.' Requested by** liddym2113.**_

Set sometime after the Season 3 finale, when Carl is still angry with Rick.

* * *

Rick was never one to talk.

Never with Lori. Nor Shane. Even as a kid he kept his feelings to himself. Worked problems out and came up with a solution. Dealt with it. Moved on.

It was how he'd always been.

He could live that way then. The end of the world seemed to make it harder. It made Carl harder to deal with, made Rick need to communicate with him, need to make him understand and he wasn't good at that.

So he'd come outside.

Walked down and out to where he was drawn. To Lori.

And he could speak to her, tell her what was happening with their son and how he didn't know what to do and he could hear her, in his mind telling him it would all be okay. He needed to hear that, even from his own mind.

It wasn't until he was halfway there that he spotted another figure out there. Rick stalled a moment, hesitated before he continued.

And Daryl, because it was so clearly Daryl, shifted awkwardly as Rick grew closer, stepping away from the markers as Rick got there, greeting the other man with a quick nod.

Rick returned it as he's eyes fell on Lori's grave and Rick heard Daryl walking away before he called out to stop him. "There's no grave for him out here," Rick said, knowing that he didn't need to say who. Rick kept looking at Lori's marker. "I always wondered why."

Daryl shifted behind him, shrugged unseen to Rick. "Don't need it. He ain't in there. None of 'em are."

What was left of T Dog had been buried, Andrea too. But there hadn't been enough left of Lori to bury her. But he knew that wasn't what Daryl meant.

"We could have gone back you know. If you'd wanted too." Rick said. He'd offered when Daryl had got back, late that night, hours after Michonne.

"Took care of it," Daryl said, still talking to Rick's back.

"Him," Rick said. To remind Daryl it wasn't just a body, it had been a person. His brother. Because he didn't talk about it. Barely at all. He'd barely heard Daryl mention his name. "I came out here to talk to her. To tell her about Carl. How I'm in over my head."

Daryl heard some of the desperateness in Rick's voice and he turned away from him, just in case Rick turned round and he had to see that sadness in his eyes. Hershel was good at this sort of thing. But Hershel wasn't here. Rick was talking to him. "You come down here to make yourself feel better. Ya'll ready know what to do."

Rick turned to Daryl, saw he was still poised ready to walk right on back to the prison. "Do you regret coming back here with him?" He watched Daryl tense up at that. Coming back here had put Merle into a position where he was asked to risk his life.

"No. Jus' that it could have been... different." Daryl looked down to the ground and Rick turned from him again. Back to Lori.

"I should have told her I loved her."

Daryl looked at Rick again. Watched him until Rick turned back to Daryl and their eyes met. And there was a comfort to be had in that moment, the reality of it was mere seconds before Daryl looked away.

And Rick found he didn't need words. Didn't need to go through Lori to know what he needed to do with Carl.

So he picked some flowers growing by the fence and laid them by the cross that marked Lori's grave.

"I love you." he said, whispering just to her. Because that's all he needed to say to her now, and forever.


	2. Lizzie

_**Requested by crossbowandwalkers**: Can I get one in Lizzie's point of view? Perhaps how the flowers talk to her and how she thinks its normal, and even when she kills her sister she doesn't think anything bc her sister is still whispering to her._

**A/N: **This was a tough one. I don't think I really did what you wanted exactly, but it is about crazy Lizzie and her POV on the walkers.

* * *

Mika had wanted to live there, at that house.

It was nice and safe. Carol and Tyresse would be like their new Mom and Dad. And Judith was their baby sister. And Lizzie was already making friends. Tom, down on the tracks and Griselda. Well, Griselda was a mistake. She should have known Carol wouldn't let her stay.

She kept telling her they were monsters and Lizzie didn't know why she couldn't see it. The person that was still there. The weren't just getting to live, they were getting a chance to be better. They sought her out, because she was special, because she understood them. 'Help us, Lizzie. Help us to let them see. This is the better way.'. That's what Tom on the tracks was saying.

But no. Carol and Tyresse didn't see it. And Mika, she didn't believe her either.

But then she realised, after the burnt walkers arrived, how she could help. She killed them. She shot them along with Carol and Tyresse, but she did it because they were hurt. 'It burns, Lizzie. Please!' And so she did it. To help them.

And then she realised that Carol and Tyresse needed to see it closer. To see someone they knew change. Because they just saw a monster and kept missing the person. They never listened to them, no matter how loudly they spoke. The man at the house when they got there, the one Mika shot, he'd just asked to hold Judith. 'A baby!' he cried. 'My baby.' He just missed his own. And he didn't get a chance to hold her. Because Lizzie would have let him cradle Judith.

She could see the look on their faces when they realised that's all he wanted. He'd probably bite her, so she would change too, but that was okay, he'd want to hold onto her forever. And she would have been able to see the pride on Carol's face when she realised what she'd done. 'You bought them together, Lizzie. You did a good thing'. That's what she'd have said.

But that was all gone.

So when Carol and Tyresse went out, they left Mika playing outside with Judith. Lizzie had been sat inside, doing the puzzle. She wanted to wait until they were gone. She wanted it to be a surprise.

She'd sat down next to Mika. Asked Mika if she wanted to live there forever and she was so excited. It was what she wanted. It was what Lizzie wanted too, so they'd be happy. But she just needed Carol to see. She'd have let herself turn, but if she had, there'd be no one to explain it to them.

"Close your eyes, I got a surprise for you," Lizzie told her. Mika smiled at her as she shut them tight. "No peeking," Lizzie said as she gripped the handle of the knife in her hand.

"Lizzie, are we_ really_ gonna live here forever?" Mika asked.

"I promise we will."


	3. Daryl & Beth: Sleeping Beauty

It had been stupid to think that getting her out the house would be safe for her. 'Wait by the road,' he'd said.

She was injured. Had been trying not to let her ankle bother her, but he could tell it was still hurting her. That was why he'd carried her around at the house. Made sure she rested it as much as possible.  
And then when the walkers showed up, he'd told her to get out, just to get her stuff and go and he hadn't really thought about it. All he focused on was getting the walkers to follow him, to give her a chance to get out.

Somehow, it didn't occur to him that just as many might be outside, if not more. And he'd sent her out there. Alone  
Sent her out armed with a knife, a bad ankle and no chance to survive, not really.

And when he'd got there, to the side of the road, the walkers were tearing at her. She was silent, dead already and he could see more walkers coming towards them all the time, he pulled the first two walkers off, stabbed the second two until he could pull Beth's body clear of them. And then he carried her in his arms, just like he had done in the house and he ran down the road, away from the house and the walkers.

When the walkers were out of sight he took Beth into the woods, propped her up against a tree. Her blood was all over him, his hands, soaked into his shirt, running down his forearms to his elbows.

Her face still looked so perfect, just like she was sleeping.

Her shoulder has a gaping bite from it and her body had been ripped apart. Her guts were protruding, pushing there way out as he'd jostled her about getting here. He pulled off the jacket he'd been wearing, wet with sweat now anyway even in the cool night air.  
He didn't want Beth's body to lose it's warmth, wanted to keep her warm. So he worked her arms into it, adjusted it over the shoulder wound. He ripped the shirt off and ripped in to make a bandage for her. Pushed her guts back in and tied the shirt tightly round her waist.  
He fastened the front of the jacket up and she looked okay. She _was_ sleeping.

He lifted her up carefully in his arms and they moved on. A little further away from the road and that house. And when his arms and legs protested that they could go no further, he found them shelter in a little house hidden in the woods.

And inside he lay her down in the one bed the house offered and covered her with a blanket to keep her warm. He went and rested on the couch. And sleep claimed him quickly, his body and mind exhausted. He didn't wake until the gentle thud of Beth hitting the table at the end of the couch disturbed him. And she noticed him then. Her blue eyes hazy and lifeless, but they turned to him and she snarled towards him.

And he met the sight of her corpse, slowly shuffling towards where he lay, still covered in her dried blood with a slight smile. A slight crooked upturn one side of his mouth.


	4. Daryl & Maggie

She couldn't sleep.

Too much had happened to them to give in to the temptation of sleep, not after everything they'd been through. And she was surprised that most of the others had. She could hear soft voices talking quietly so as not to disturb the others but she blanked it out. She was lost in her own thoughts but it was disturbed by voices getting a little louder.

"...know where she is?"

Maggie. And then she realised Carl had been talking to her and Glenn. Her mind cast back to Rick and Daryl's conversation by the car.  
Beth. Daryl hadn't said a lot about it. But if was clear Carl had heard what Daryl said and was passing the information onto Maggie. She could make out the dark lump that was Daryl. He'd been sleeping in the corner, out of the way.

"What happened to my sister?"

"She's gone," Daryl said, repeating the words he'd told Rick.

"Gone? What does that mean, Daryl? Dead?" Maggie demaded.

"No, she's not dead!" Daryl replied and Michonne heard the defensive tone in his voice. And Rick heard it too. Knew that a conversation this loaded didn't need to go down right now.

He shifted over carefully in the darkness. "Maggie, now is not the time," Rick said hoping to keep the peace.

"I want to know what happened to my sister!" Maggie demanded. Then Glenn moved over, spoke quietly to her, to calm her. She couldn't hear what he said, but she saw her sag a little before the pair moved away. She thought she could hear Maggie sobbing but she watched Rick through the darkness as he moved back over to where he'd been sitting before.

"Carl?" he called. She heard Carl moving too, back to his father. And Daryl lay back down where he'd been before.


	5. Rick & Daryl- Numb

Prompt by **AddictedtoCaffine :)**

* * *

He became numb.

After he finished with that man who'd had his hands all over Carl, once his body was a mess and he heard Michonne quietly calling his name, he just dropped the body to the ground and he stood there.

And Carl turned from him and into Michonne and she hugged him tighter. He became aware of someone else looking towards him and he remembered Daryl, but he didn't look towards him. He looked at the blood on his hands instead and remembered the fear on Carl's face. And he drifter. Body and mind.

And the next thing he can hear Carl. And he's speaking softly to Michonne, who's leaning in the car door and Carl's begging her to stay with him, voice hushed and quiet but there's a slight hysterical tone to it, like he just might fall to pieces if she leaves him and Rick thinks he should move and do something but he doesn't. And whatever Michonne was going to do, she doesn't do it and she sits with Carl, holding him in the safety of the car as Rick stares blankly at them, wondering why it's not him.

He watches as Daryl drags one of the men out into the woods. He's gone a while and Rick guesses he's taken them far enough away that it won't attract walkers to them. And then he comes back for a second.

And he knows he should help but he doesn't do that either. It's not until he hears a little grunt from Daryl that he realises that he probably shouldn't be hefting these corpses about like he is, not after he got a beating from those two guys but when he tries to help, Daryl shifts away from him. "My mess. I'll clear it up," he says and carries on before Rick can argue. But that's a lie. Rick could have said something if he wanted too. It's silent out here, the only sound is from Daryl and he's still being as quiet as he can, considering the task. But he leaves Daryl too it but he remembers. Makes sure that he keeps it in mind.

He moves away from the spot he's been stood in and he looks in the car and see's Michonne and Carl huddled together. He moves round to the other side of the car, figures Michonne has one side covered and if he sits outside the other door, he can protect Carl that way.

So that's what he does. He hears Daryl return, starts to drag away the last body. He thinks it might be the leader but he wasn't paying much attention. He just sits and listens. Hears Daryl come back.

He thinks he might come over to him, but Daryl's doing something else now. He gets up to go and see when he keeps at it and Daryl's searching through the bags, emptying the contents out on the ground. He must find a flash light in one as suddenly it's flicked on and Daryl's making a pile of clothes. "Windows," Daryl says, pointing to the car. Rick gets up and goes over and picks up the pile Daryl's already made and heads back to the car. He taps on the window, even though Michonne and Carl are both watching him, looking at him, and she nods, tells him it's okay, so he opens the door and speaks to them. "It'll keep the light out," Rick says, as he hangs the shirt over the door slightly so it blocks up the window, closing it so it's caught in it's place.

He does them all by himself before he looks back round to see Daryl's gone again. His heart flutters just a moment because he doesn't know where he's gone or if he's okay, but he tells himself it'll be okay. Pushes away the worry that Daryl called this 'my mess' and that he thinks he's done this to them all. Daryl emerges from the woods again and Rick watches as he takes the bags fro, those men and drops those out into the woods too.

There a pile of weapons and food Daryl's scavenged from all of their packs, and a spare bag to put it all in.

Then Daryl's looking for the next task. Starts to ready his bow like he might just head out on a hunt.

"Sit down. Rest a while," Rick beckons. And Daryl looks. Over to where Rick's heading, back to the side of the car where he sits down to rest himself. And then Daryl looks out into the woods. He can think of plenty to do to keep himself busy. "Whatever it is can wait. Just sit and rest. Just until dawn."

Daryl nods. Reluctant. But he heads over hesitantly an sits down. Rick ignores the groan Daryl lets out as his aching body is allowed to rest a little. Daryl looks across to Rick. "You look a mess," he tells him.

"You too. Rest," He tells him again. "Everything else can wait until morning."


	6. Daryl- The Wait

They'd travelled East. There was no reason for that direction. They'd just picked it a long time ago.

Their numbers dwindled as time went on. They sometimes found new people but it seemed large communities were more common- that was how people were surviving. And they avoided them. Too many bad experiences to risk it again.

They settled. Found a beautiful old building. They made it a place to live. And they lived. For the first time in a long time, they were able to have something normal, something that felt safe.

He went out hunting. Had got up early to make the most of the day. To catch as much as he could. He didn't get anything big, but he got a good haul. He'd found an old wheelbarrow some time ago and he used to wheel it into the woods with him, hide it out there to being back his kills. He remembered it was Maggie who had suggested it after he'd struggled dragging a deer carcass back one time. He'd scoffed at the idea at first until he realised that no one would think any differently of him if he used it or not. So he used it.

When he got back that day, he had been thinking that he should take the time to thank Maggie for bringing it back for him, when he'd dismissed it.  
It was the quiet that made him realise something was wrong and he stopped pushing the wheelbarrow and just walked towards their home.

And there was nothing there. Just a building. Items they used everyday were scattered about, as though they'd been in use. Baskets they used to gather up the vegetables they grew were left strewn across the he walked up the steps to the house, he kicked a knife and is slid a little against the concrete. There was no blood on it. It was just there.

He found casings from bullets. A few drops of blood here and there but nothing that showed a violent struggle. Things were just left, not destroyed, as though everyone had simply left what they were doing and vanished.  
Daryl checked in case walkers had come through. But there was no mass of tracks in the dirt. Nothing seemed out of place. They were just gone. No reason, no explanation.

So he feared they'd been attacked, but it wasn't a violent attack. Without bloodshed, without bullets.  
And they'd left everything behind. Hadn't left. Their vehicles remained. And if they'd been attacked, wouldn't the people take their things? Wouldn't they want their supplies?  
He didn't know the answers, he just knew they were gone. And without them, he didn't know what to do or where to do.

And really, he had nothing else.  
He had just this. This place and those people. And without them, this was nothing. A cold building with stuff in it.  
But if they were taken and they escaped, they'd come back here. It was the only place he knew, the only place they knew.

So he decided to wait. Because he had nowhere to look for them. So he'd wait here. Maybe in a day or two they'd be back. He'd find out what happened and maybe they'd move on, if they weren't safe here any more.  
But he couldn't move on without them. So he'd wait.  
No matter how long.


End file.
